Stay
by xPorcelain Lolitax
Summary: After the death of all of their human friends and the end of his mortal life, Kurama becomes confused as to what he should do with his life. Hiei has an idea, but will a couple of words from a friend change Kurama's whole outlook on life? HieixKurama in progress


Yu Yu Hakusho is property of FUNimation and Fuji TV, and of course the awesome Yoshihiro Togashi.

After the death of all of their human friends and the end of his mortal life, Kurama becomes confused as to what he should do with his life. Hiei has an idea, but will a couple of words from a friend change Kurama's whole outlook on life? To make matters worse, Kurama is haunted by his past, figuratively and literarily, and Hiei is powerless to help him. Set in all three worlds, in a timeframe spanning the canon storyline to a couple of decades after the story ends.

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><p>The day's dying light poured in through the open window, bathing the deep green curtains in gold. A warm breeze moved the curtains, scattered pages of paper, tousled long, crimson hair.<p>

"For how long will you stand there speechless?" The redhead turned his body slightly to look his friend in the eye.

"For however long it takes me to figure out what to do next with my life. This chapter has finally closed. This part of my life is now over. So what now? What can I do," he turned back to the window, "but stand here and contemplate?" Hiei moved closer to his friend and leaned against the desk, idly observing the abandoned pieces of paper as they were being moved by the wind. An uncomfortable silence stretched between the two. Hiei could see his friend's mouth open, then close, a couple of times, but he said nothing.

"What are you thinking, Kurama," Hiei whispered, staring up at him with curious, concerned eyes. He felt helpless, not knowing what to say or do to change the air around them.

"I don't know what to do, Hiei," Kurama finally said. "I don't want to go back to living my life the way I did back then. There is no more joy in simply finding treasures and storing them away. Even if I amass the most amount of wealth anyone has ever imagined, what can I do from then on? It seems so empty now, all that I wanted back then," he paused. The two looked out the window at the setting sun, watched a bird fly by, casting a shadow on Kurama's anxious face.

"I've gotten so used to waiting, Hiei," Kurama whispered. "I was waiting from the moment I became Shuichi Minamino; waiting until I came back here. But now that I am done waiting, and it's time to act, I don't know what to do. Going back to my old life as a bandit, how I'd originally had planned it, is not an option. I never want to have such an empty, hallow life ever again," he said, his voice elevating ever so slightly. Kurama leaned on the window frame, closing his eyes. He covered his face with his hand for a moment, quickly hiding an emotion that he didn't want Hiei to see. When Kurama dropped his hand, his face was once again a perfect mask, and his voice was level and controlled.

"I like who I've become, and I hate who I've been. But I don't know who I will be from now on. I don't know what I will do from now on. I just don't know. All of my plans," he made a helpless gesture with his hands, throwing them in the air for a moment before dropping them back down. "The years of plans and thinking and contemplating, they are all useless now." Kurama sighed, looking out the window. His exasperation has been given a voice, and now that he had vented, he was exhausted. Hiei could see the weariness in his friend's face, and could laugh at how silly it seemed. Yet it wasn't silly; it didn't feel silly to him.

They stood in silence, watching the day turn into night. The last rays of sunlight were retreating from the sky when Hiei pushed away from the desk and came to stand in front of his friend. He waited until Kurama faced him before speaking.

"Stay here," he said. They stared at each other, faces unreadable. Then, Kurama's expression changed ever so slightly.

"Stay?" he whispered, turning his head to the side just a little. Hiei nodded, looking up at his friend.

"Hiei, have you not been listening to anything I've said so far?" Kurama asked, sighing.

"I have. You're thinking of what to do next, and I'm telling you what I think you should do," Hiei stated. "You should stay here with me." Kurama stared at Hiei, speechless once again.

"When you say stay..." Kurama began, trying to figure out exactly what it was his friend was saying.

"I want you to stay here, in this place, in this world. I want to know that when I wake up in the morning, I can walk down the hall and see you, and not wonder where you are or what you are doing," Hiei said, his voice picking up in speed towards the end, his face becoming slightly anxious. Kurama still said nothing; he continued to stare in total bewilderment. Hiei looked away, toward the window.

"I didn't know what to do with myself once, too. I thought I was ready for death. I welcomed it. When I woke up to Mukuro's voice, I was momentarily angry that she saved me," Hiei muttered in a low voice. He looked up, seeing if Kurama's expression had changed. It had, and the fox now looked more concerned than bewildered. He was about to say something, but Hiei cut him off.

"I'm glad now that she did it, because I realized something that day, Kurama," Hiei looked up at the redhead, feeling a slight nervousness in confessing this to his friend, yet knowing that he needed to, for himself and Kurama both. "I realized that my life, up until I met you and Yusuke, and even that oaf Kuwabara, all that time was useless; nothing but darkness and pain. Meeting you changed that. But when I left you, came here, I left behind what little joy I had come to expect from life, and went back to that darkness."

"Why are you telling me this, Hiei? I don't believe I've ever heard you say so much in one sitting," Kurama asked, his voice low and slow. He was confused again.

"Because I'm trying to make you understand how I feel. I don't care about what I achieve in life; how powerful I get, how many demons I kill, how many demons will know and fear me. I don't care how much money I have, or where I've been and what I've done. All I care about is having the people I care for here," he said, looking away. He looked up at Kurama.

"You can laugh if you think it's strange of me to say so," he said, glaring at the redhead, who chuckled a little, though he was still utterly confused.

"Any more of this and I will think there is really something wrong with you! You don't have a fever, do you?" Kurama asked, reaching his hand out for Hiei's forehead. But Hiei pulled away and Kurama dropped his hand at his side. Hiei sighed, and looked up at Kurama again.

"This is hard for me to say, so just listen," Hiei said, then paused for a moment and walked up closer to Kurama. He looked his friend in the eyes, then slowly reached out and grabbed Kurama's hands. Kurama allowed it, and they both looked down at their linked hands, their hearts beating just a bit faster than usual.

"Even if I get everything, fame, power, you name it, even if I get everything, once I have everything, there will be nothing left. I'll be all alone again, with my useless power. What will I do with it? Once I become the strongest? What will I do then? It's meaningless. No; what is actually important, what I want and what I need, is for the people I love to be here with me. That is all that would make me happy. So I don't care about the next step. I don't care what I will do tomorrow. All I care is that I can see your face tomorrow," Hiei said. He looked at Kurama, then back down quickly.

"And I hope you'll feel the same, that you don't need to know where you want to go, that you don't have to worry who you will become. Because I love you the way you are now, and I want you to stay here with me, and not go anywhere else." Kurama gasped, his eyes going wide.

"Hiei, are you hearing yourself? Do you know what you just said?" Kurama asked.

"Yes. I just admitted to being in love with you," Hiei mumbled, looking away. Kurama could see a small blush on the demon's face.

"You know me well; you know I don't make speeches like this everyday. So you know I really mean what I said," he mumbled, still looking away. His grip on Kurama's fingers tightened. "So, please just tell me you'll stay and never mention we had this conversation ever again." Kurama's confused face brightened up and he smiled. Then he began to chuckle, even as a hard glare was directed at him.

"Oh, Hiei. I never knew you could be so adorable," Kurama teased, squeezing Hiei's fingers lightly.

"So you'll stay?" Hiei asked, looking up. The raw hope in his voice reminded Kurama of an innocent child, and there was absolutely no other response he could give except;

"Yes. I'll stay." The smile Kurama saw growing on the smaller demon's face suddenly melted the uncertainty he had felt. Tomorrow was no longer important.

Kurama withdrew his fingers from Hiei's, then slowly wrapped his arms around his friend. Whereas usually Hie would flinch, or try to run away, today he did neither.

"Can you say it one more time?" the redhead asked, closing his eyes as he tightened his grip ever so slightly.

"You heard me," Hiei muttered, turning away. Kurama chuckled and decided not to pursue it. He didn't need the words. He knew already all he needed to know.

For a while Kurama stood with his arms around the smaller demon, not expecting anything more; Hiei has done enough for one day. But when Kurama began to pull away, two strong arms pulled him back into the embrace, and kept him there, until it became unbearably dark and cold in the small room.


End file.
